The Class X student's half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal in a village in Jind district after she had gone missing last Tuesday.

The Class X student's half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal.

Chandigarh: Inhabitants of her native village knew her as a bright student who aspired to be a doctor and was determined to become one despite odds.

A sombre mood now prevails in this village in Haryana's Kurukshetra district, as the family of this 15-year-old Dalit girl try to come to terms with the brutal reality of her being raped and savagely killed.

A grievously hurt father now seeks nothing less than capital punishment for the culprits.

The Class X student's half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal in a village in Jind district after she had gone missing last Tuesday.

She was brutally assaulted, her private parts mutilated and some of the vital organs ruptured, police had said earlier.

The girl's family and other villagers have been in a state of shock and disbelief, ever since the gruesome crime came to light. They recall how despite family odds she was studying hard to realise her dream of becoming a doctor.

"She was a bright student. She wanted to become a doctor. Her uncle was also helping her to realise her aim. He was sure that she will become a doctor or some high-ranking officer," the girl's father told reporters.

Fighting hard to control his tears, he said all those who were behind such brutality meted to his daughter should be given capital punishment.

"They should be hanged. If there is even harsher punishment than hanging, they deserve that," he said.

The victim's mother said her daughter never used to hurt anyone. "Even beasts will not be this cruel. Those who gave so much pain to my daughter and killed her in this manner, are much worse than that," she said.

Some of the victim's teachers recalled that she was a bright student whose conduct in the school was quite good.

Two special investigation teams (SITs) under DSP-rank officers have already been constituted to probe the incident.

Police have launched a hunt to nab an accused youth who is alleged to have abducted the girl from Kurukshetra when she went to attend a tuition class.

Police said they believe that the number of persons involved in the crime could be more than three.

The shocking incident came close on the heels of another incident last month, in which a six-year-old girl was violently raped and killed in Haryana's Uklana area in Hisar district.

The brutal rape of the six-year-old, and the recent savage incidents including involving a 11-year-old girl in a village in Panipat, were a stark reminder of the December 16, 2012, incident in Delhi, in which a physiotherapy intern was raped by a group of a men in a moving bus and a rod inserted into her body. She died in a hospital 13 days later.